The Washington Capitals begin their “Road to Redemption”, as I’m calling the 2010-11 regular season on Friday, October 8th in Atlanta against “Slava” Kozlov and the Atlanta Thrashers. The home opener will be the next night against the New Jersey Devils.

The schedule features at least one game against every Western Conference team, and two each against the Anaheim Ducks, San Jose Sharks, and St. Louis Blues.

Ok, so maybe the “Road to Redemption” thing is a bit hokey, but I don’t know what else to call it given the Capitals shocking collapse in the first round of this year’s Stanley Cup playoffs. What was supposed to be the first Stanley Cup championship season for the 2009-10 President’s Trophy winners, turned sour under the folding of the Caps after taking a 3-1 series lead over Montreal. That’s been covered and dissected more times then I care to admit, and I won’t do it anymore here.

So, on October 8th, the Capitals begin what we hope will be a championship run. Behind captain Alex Ovechkin, who will be only 25 when the season starts, and my son’s favorite Alexander Semin, the Capitals will basically return to the ice with last year’s President’s Trophy squad in tact.